Getting faster: low temperature copper-mediated SARA ATRP of methacrylates, acrylates, styrene and vinyl chloride in polar media using sulfolane/water mixtures
- 15 January 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in RSC Advances
- Vol. 6 (12), 9598-9603
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ra20872f
Abstract
Supplemental activator and reducing agent atom transfer radical polymerization (SARA ATRP) of acrylates, methacrylates, styrene and vinyl chloride was successfully performed in sulfolane/water mixtures using ppm amounts of soluble copper. The catalytic effect of the presence of water in the reaction mixtures resulted in a notable acceleration of the polymerization of the different monomers studied. The first-order kinetics with monomer conversion and the low dispersity values (Đ) of the polymers revealed the controlled features of the polymerization. As a proof-of-concept, an ABA block copolymer of poly(methyl acrylate)-b-poly(vinyl chloride)-b-poly(methyl acrylate) was prepared, confirming also the “living” character of the polymers. The results presented in this contribution extend the importance of sulfolane as an universal industrial solvent for the SARA ATRP of a broad range of monomer families by significantly enhancing the polymerization rate, due to the selective addition of water to the solvent mixture. The incorporation of small amounts of water in the solvent mixture has also allowed the use of FDA-approved sulfites as the SARA agent, which was not possible using pure sulfolane as the polymerization solvent.This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Macromolecular Engineering by Atom Transfer Radical PolymerizationJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2014
- Ambient temperature rapid SARA ATRP of acrylates and methacrylates in alcohol–water solutions mediated by a mixed sulfite/Cu(ii)Br2 catalytic systemPolymer Chemistry, 2013
- Synthesis of well-defined poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) under mild conditions and its co-polymers with cholesterol and PEG using Fe(0)/Cu(ii) based SARA ATRPPolymer Chemistry, 2013
- Facile Synthesis of Well-Defined Telechelic Alkyne-Terminated Polystyrene in Polar Media Using ATRP With Mixed Fe/Cu Transition Metal CatalystMacromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 2012
- Inorganic Sulfites: Efficient Reducing Agents and Supplemental Activators for Atom Transfer Radical PolymerizationACS Macro Letters, 2012
- Ambient temperature rapid ATRP of methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate and styrene in polar solvents with mixed transition metal catalyst systemEuropean Polymer Journal, 2011
- Electrochemically Mediated Atom Transfer Radical PolymerizationScience, 2011
- ATRP of Methyl Acrylate with Metallic Zinc, Magnesium, and Iron as Reducing Agents and Supplemental ActivatorsMacromolecules, 2011
- Diminishing catalyst concentration in atom transfer radical polymerization with reducing agentsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Activators Regenerated by Electron Transfer for Atom‐Transfer Radical Polymerization of (Meth)acrylates and Related Block CopolymersAngewandte Chemie, 2006